How To Measure Square Footage for Vinyl Flooring Most vinyl flooring today is sold by the square foot. In order to calculate the amount of vinyl you need for a room you first need to calculate the total square feet of the area you want to cover. We also recommend you add about 10% extra to your square footage to make sure you have enough material and don't run short while installing your vinyl flooring. Our vinyl flooring calculator below is very basic to give you a rough idea of the total square footage needed of vinyl flooring and a estimated cost for material only. The calculator does not take into account pattern repeats or special widths. But this will give you some idea of the costs and material needed for your flooring project. If you need help see the WFCA flooring stores locator for professional flooring retailers in your area that can help you and give you a free estimate. Enter cost per sq. ft. (optional): Total Square Footage All Areas: 10% Square Feet (Extra):

Estimated Total Material Needed: Date: July 22, 2016 Date: July 9, 2016 Date: June 9, 2016 Date: February 7, 2016 Date: January 2, 2016 Date: December 7, 2015 Date: December 6, 2015 Date: November 23, 2015 Date: October 10, 2015 Date: October 7, 2015Adura® offers the look of real wood or tile with the exceptional durability and performance that only a luxury vinyl floor can provide. Get the look of wood with Adura® Plank or the Distinctive Plank Collection which features realistic colors and surface textures in 5” and 6” -width planks. If you prefer tile, choose Adura® Tile, available in 16”x16” squares and new 12”x24” Adura® Rectangles. Design your floor just as you would with real tile by customizing your layout and grouting your floor for a more realistic appearance. For quick and easy no-glue installation, opt for Mannington’s exclusive LockSolid™ technology –available in many tile and plank patterns.

The beauty of wood meets the easy care of luxury vinyl, in 4"x36" planks with a choice of traditional glue-down or LockSolid™ installation options.Last Updated Apr 23, 2015 8:05 AM EDT Most vinyl flooring contains chemicals called phthalates, many of which have been banned from children's products over concerns of negative health effects. Smart Notebook 11 Undo Extend PageNow, a report released on Wednesday praised Home Depot (HD) as being "far ahead of its competitors" in requiring suppliers to stop using the chemicals.Headlight Bulb For 2008 Honda RidgelinePhthalates are used to soften plastic and vinyl and make them more flexible. Okeechobee T-ShirtsBut they're believed to be toxic and have been linked to a laundry list of ailments.

, part of the nonprofit Ecology Center, tested 65 vinyl floors and found that 58 percent had phthalates. The samples were purchased from major home improvement retailers.As part of its research, the group looked into whether any of the retailers planned to take steps to phase out the use of phthalates and found that Home Depot intends to do so this year. By the end of the first quarter, the phase-out was reported to be 85 percent complete."As the world's largest home improvement retailer, Home Depot's new policy sends a strong signal to the marketplace that retailers want healthier building materials free of harmful chemicals like phthalates,"Andy Igrejas, director of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, said in a statement. The revelation about phthalates comes on the heels of a "60 Minutes" investigation that revealed Lumber Liquidators (LL) has been selling laminated wood flooring with high levels of formaldehyde, a carcinogen. Tests commissioned by the show found that 30 of 31 boxes of flooring labeled as being in compliance with California's tough air quality standards were not.

The company has taken issue with how the tests for compliance are conducted, arguing that when put in place, flooring that uses formaldehyde in the glue that holds the wood particles together can pass California testing standards. However, the top layer of the laminate is peeled off to do the testing.In this study, Lumber Liquidators was one of two retailers that had phthalates in every sample tested. The other was Ace Hardware.Lumber Liquidators issued a statement saying it has been taking steps to phase out phthalates."Lumber Liquidators is mitigating the level of phthalates in our virgin vinyl flooring to meet existing CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) guidelines for items like child care items and toys," the company said. "Since the summer of 2014, we began adjusting our product standards and are actively transitioning to work with suppliers who support this goal. This is consistent with Home Depot's efforts and with our comprehensive commitment to product quality and safety.

To be clear, all our products -- vinyl or otherwise -- are safe for consumers."According to Ace Hardware spokesperson Kate Kirkpatrick, flooring sold by Ace Hardware out of its distribution centers is free of ortho-phthalates.She noted that Ace "is a retailer-owned cooperative that sells wholesale products to local hardware stores. Ace stores are not required to purchase all of their inventory from our distribution centers and, therefore, may sell flooring materials obtained from other distributors. We are committed to environmental education and stewardship -- for our customers, our company and our communities. Ace strives to purchase and offer products from vendors that are in full compliance with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations."Before:  Nasty, 22-year old carpet that had been through about 7 owners. After:  Brand new vinyl plank flooring, installed by us, with no classes or training.  Looks like hardwood, doesn’t it? This product comes in planks 6″ x 48″, and has an adhesive already applied.  

You just peel off the paper  backing, place it, and stick.  Well, there is a little more to it than that. 1st – After removing the carpet and padding, you have to remove all of the tacking nails and staples.  You have to be very sure to get them ALL out to prevent damage to the vinyl.  Also remove base shoe molding, also called quarter round molding, if it is present. 2nd – You’ll need to make sure your sub-floor is very flat and smooth.  Fill in all the joints and any knots or large nail holes with a floor leveling compound, which you can find at any home improvement store.  Follow the instructions on the label.  Use an electric vibratory sander to sand it smooth once dry.  It doesn’t have to be perfect, just fairly smooth. In our case, we had two sheets of plywood that were offset about 1/8″, one higher than the other.  This could have caused a ridge to show through the vinyl.  Hubby used the leveling compound to build up a sort of ramp from the lower one to the higher one.  

Once sanded, and the new flooring placed, you can’t even tell it was ever a problem. This image shows the seams and other places where we used leveling compound to level and smooth out the sub-floor: (If you’re new here to WCIJ, and you’re wondering why there are crazy paint splatters on the wall, this is an art-themed room for our daughter.  You can get tips and techniques on creating this paint-splatter wall for your little artist here.) 3rd – I should say a word about selecting your vinyl plank flooring.  We had ordered a “special order” color / pattern from one of the big home improvement chains.  It was back ordered by the manufacturer once for a week, then again for five weeks!  We didn’t want to wait and asked the salesperson if they had another option. He showed us some styles they keep in stock.  We hadn’t taken the time to look and realize they even kept some in stock.  We chose one almost identical to the special order style, bought it off the shelf, and saved about 30% in cost!

So the lesson is, if you decide to buy this type of flooring, give the “in stock” styles a good look – it may save you money. Another word about saving money:  vinyl plank flooring turned out to be about 75% cheaper than the hardwood flooring we considered, and about 50% cheaper than laminate.  Now I realize prices can vary greatly in hardwood and laminate, but that’s what we found, at least. 4th – Vacuum thoroughly!  The planks won’t stick if there is any dust or dirt on the sub-floor.  In fact, vacuum again before laying each row, just where that row is going.  You can’t help but walk around on it, so keep it clean before putting down that next row! 5th – Measure your room carefully to see if it’s square.  If not, you may need to run your first row of planks slightly, er, “non-straight”.  Measure from the edge of the first row to the far wall and make sure you are now running square, so the rest of the rows will be square to the room.  

Follow the installation instructions that come with the flooring.  They have tips on how to stagger the seams. Basically, you start the first row with a full plank, full plank, etc. until you have to cut one to the length needed to finish that row. You begin the next row with a 1/2 plank, then continue with full planks until you, again, have to trim one to finish. 6th – Trimming around the a/c register doesn’t have to be tricky.  Hubby quickly figured out an easy way to do this. As my algebra teacher used to say, now you’re cookin’ with gas.  Just keep laying those planks. 7th – A trimming tip – use a sharp utility knife, and a square for cutting the planks.  When you’re nearly done, you won’t want to cut on your gorgeous new floor, so use a piece of scrap 2 x 4 as a cutting surface. 8th – Use a 2 x 4 or long level to “jam” each plank tightly up against the previous row, making sure you don’t leave an open gap, but also making sure you don’t overlap the last row.  

If you make a mistake, just pull it up and re-position it.   9th – You’ll do well to purchase one of these handy rollers to press the flooring down tightly.  The adhesive is pressure activated, we read somewhere.  This may not be absolutely necessary, but we sure found that the seams looked better and the few “ornery” planks we had laid nice and flat once rolled.  This cost about $40.  (We’re doing four rooms total so well worth the cost.) 10th – Install your base shoe, or, quarter round  molding.  If you removed old carpet, you probably didn’t have any and will have to purchase this.  You can find it pre-primed, so you’ll only need to give it one coat of paint.  You can finish the corners with mitered corners or coped corners – we did the latter.  Nail it down with finishing nails, touch up the paint, and admire your lovely new floor that seriously looks like real hardwood. This is a great alternative for us, as one of my children has allergies, and her doctor said the carpet needed to go.